Posts about Sony

Sony is barging in on Microsoft's territory, having hammered out a deal to stream Netflix movies over the console just like the Xbox 360 for no additional charge beyond the Netflix membership.  More Â»

Robert bought a PlayStation 3, which crapped out him after four months, falling victim to the yellow light of death. He says he contacted Sony to get a repair, but the company insists on charging him $150 plus tax and shipping. This is odd, because Sony offers a one-year warranty on PS3s.  More Â»

Remember back when some individuals referred to good things as "da bomb?" They probably didn't have the Executive Email Carpet Bomb in mind, since Consumerist didn't yet exist, but they should have. Here's to re-branding "da bomb" as shorthand for the EECB. Just look at what it did for c0crusader, a spurned Sony laptop customer who used da bomb to shake Sony down for $99.   More Â»

If you went out and bought a PS3 Slim, thinking your new system would at least avoid obsolescence for the rest of the year, think again.  More Â»

Lordnat75 writes on Sony's tech forum that he can't re-download his games because he's owned too many PSPs.  More Â»

It's a good week for Microsoft and its fanboys, because both Playstation 3 and Wii gamers are reporting recent system updates are rendering their consoles nothing more than bricks.  More Â»

Sony announced a while back that it would boost its foundering PSP by allowing gamers to transfer copies of Blu-ray films to the handheld device — but only if they also own a PS3.  More Â»

Copyranter spotted this insensitive — to put it mildly — Chilean PS3 Ad that shows a gamer giving a blood transfusion to German field marshal Erwin Rommel while laying in beds whose headboards are adorned with swastikas.  More Â»

On Thursday Sony releases the PSP Go, its fourth iteration of the handheld gaming device in as many years. In a move to counter used game sales that conceivably eat away at game publishers' bottom lines, the smaller, lighter, $250 PSP spurns the system's Universal Media Discs in favor of downloads.  More Â»

On a roll from demanding an apology from Sony for insinsuating the country was a haven for scams, Nigeria is demanding an apology from the makers of District 9 for portraying Nigeria as full of gangsters and cannibals. They also want the movie to be re-edited so all the Nigerian gangsters are taken out.  More Â»

Nigeria is mad at Sony for its latest ads that suggesting a lot of scams come from the country. Heaven forfend!  More Â»

After Agent Xray purchased The Beatles: Rock Band, he tells us his PlayStation 3 put up a speedbump on Abbey Road by requiring him to download the latest firmware upgrade in order to play the game.  More Â»

The advantages of the newly released PS3 Slim over the older models are numerous: smaller size, larger hard drive and faster booting — um, wait, maybe not that last one.  More Â»

The history of video game console competitions reads much like that of New York's crime families — you see powerful leaders making bold, risky moves to snuff out their rivals and fierce, tribal alliances that breed clashes between vocal factions.  More Â»

Responding to Sony's announcement that a new, cheaper PS3 — as well as a universal price cut to $300 — is imminent, Microsoft is understandably lowering the price of its Xbox 360 Elite to $300, matching the new PS3.  More Â»

In a move to spike slumping PlayStation 3 sales, Sony revealed the long-rumored PS3 Slim will be slinking onto shelves Sept. 1.  More Â»

The Xbox 360 breaks five times as often as its closest failure-prone competitor, the PlayStation 3, a print edition-only Game Informer survey found.  More Â»

Reader Martin sent his PS3 in to Sony because a game was stuck in the drive. When he got it back, the game was missing. Where did it go? Sony says there was nothing the drive when they received the unit. Martin is wondering why he would have sent his console in to Sony in the first place if it didn't have a game stuck in it. It is a mystery.  More Â»

Later this month, Sony will start selling a $199 ebook reader through Walmart and other retailers ($100 less than the Kindle). They're also dropping the price of new releases to $9.99, which is what Amazon sells ebook licenses for. [Consumer Reports]  More Â»

This generation of game consoles has adapted the PC tradition of updating games with downloadable patches to smooth out glitches and add new features. With an update to its PlayStation 3 hovercraft racer Wipeout HD, Sony added yet another facet to the experience — pre-race commercials that caused longer-than-necessary load times.  More Â»

Well well well. New information from an inside source says that the tech threw dirt on the infamous "dusty PS3" to deny the warranty claim because he didn't feel like repairing it. Shocking! His confession, inside.  More Â»

Although eMusic is a great service—for a flat monthly fee, you get a set number of downloads per month of DRM-free music tracks—it's about to get better. Or maybe worse, depending on the breadth of your musical tastes. Today eMusic will announce that Sony is adding its back catalog of songs to eMusic's library. The bad news is that eMusic also plans to slightly raise prices and/or drop the number of downloads per month. Even if it works out to between 50-60 cents per track, though, that's still far less than iTunes Music Store or Amazon, and probably the cheapest way to grab music from Sony artists without resorting to piracy.  More Â»

You just can't win if you're a gamer these days. Sure, you may like the console you've got, but you know your jealous of the exclusive games and features on the systems you don't have. Even if you own all three current-gen home consoles you feel guilty about neglecting one or two of them.  More Â»

Bad news for gamers who are dreaming of an Xbox 361, PlayStation 4 or Wiii. You won't be playing hovercraft Mario Kart or holographic Halo until well into President Palin's first term.  More Â»

When a 6-year-old Tampa Bay boy turned on his "new" PSP from Walmart there was a little something extra included. Lots and lots of porn!   More Â»

Remember that guy with the PS3 Sony said was too dusty to repair? The saga continues.  More Â»

Ever wonder why some places will engrave your electronics for free? It's so you can't return them. Really. That's the reason. Returns of perfectly good, non-defective merchandise account for 95% of returns and "free engraving" is a cheap, easy way to ensure that that item won't be coming back.  More Â»

Is there a difference between a Sony TZ ultraportable laptop and an Asus Eee PC? Reader Ignacio bought Best Buy's accidental damage protection plan for his $2200 Sony TZ laptop, and when he did, indeed, drop it -- Best Buy threatened to replace it with a $600 Asus Eee PC, and finally decided to issue a $1200 gift card -- the price of a 15" Dell notebook. Fair?  More Â»

Everyone seems to agree-- this year will be the year of the cheap big-screen tv. The only question remains... will anyone buy them?  More Â»

35,000 laptop batteries from laptops sold from 2004-2006 have been recalled for fire and burn hazards. There have been 17 fires and 2 burns associated with these batteries, so if you've got one, make sure you take care of this issue.  More Â»

Highlights From Dealhack

• Abt Electronics: Sony Cybershot S750 7.2MP Digital Camera $129 Shipped
• Office Depot: HP AMD Dual Core Widescreen Notebook $550 & Free Shipping
• B&H Photo: Panasonic Viera 42-inch Plasma HDTV $830 Shipped

• Amazon: J.A. Henckels 8 Piece Stylus Block Set for $49.99 w/ Free shipping
• Walmart: Eastsport Mesh Backpack for $9.88 + $0.97 Shipping
• Timberland: 30% Off Coupon w/ coupon code: FALLEVENT4

• Geeks.com: Four Wireless Day / Night Color Security Cameras with receiver for $130 + $11 s&h
• Newegg: Creative ZEN X-Fi 8GB Portable MP3 / MP4 Player for $112 + free shipping
• Buy.com: Refurbished SanDisk Sansa MP3 Players from $22 + free shipping

Sony recalled 440,000 Vaio TZ laptops today due to a faulty wiring issue. The recall affects models made between May 2007 and July 2008 in the VAIO VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series and VGN-TZ2000 series. Consumers owning one of these laptops are advised to stop using and call (888) 526-6219 or go to sony.com/support to determine if their computers are included in the recall.  More Â»

• Lenovo: Employee Pricing on ThinkPad and IdeaPad Notebooks, up to 42% off (login with passcode 536686)
• Woot: Sandisk Clip 2GB MP3 Player for $19.99
• Newegg: ESET NOD32 Antivirus Home Edition v3 for $14.99 (Best antivirus around, won't slow down your computer)

• Buy.com: Kingston 4GB USB 2.0 Portable Flash Drive $14 Shipped
• Hanes.com: Save 15% off Complete Order on All Clothing
• Vann's: Sony FX820 Portable 8-inch DVD Player $150 Shipped

• Amazon: Kitchen & Home Labor Day Sale: Save up to 65%
• Linens 'n Things: BOGO 50% off bath furniture, more + 20% off coupon
• American Eagle: 40% off purchases coupon

Reader Adrian's PS3 is broken and since the console was a gift that didn't come with a receipt, Sony is denying warranty coverage. Where it gets tricky is that there's a "manufactured on" sticker on the back of the machine indicating that it is clearly less than a year old -- meaning that there's no possible way it could be out of warranty coverage. Adrian tried explaining this concept to Sony, but they weren't interested. No receipt. No warranty. When Adrian threatened to switch to XBOX, Sony's only answer was that "their support wasn't much better."   More Â»

Blu-ray players just aren't selling that well, says Business Week. Maybe that's because Sony has said that prices for players "likely won't fall below $200 until the end of next year—at the earliest." [Business Week]  More Â»

Reader Dustin was upset that Sony responded with form emails no matter what he wrote, now he "has a smile on his face" because Sony contacted him and would like to replace his broken PS3.   More Â»

Reader Dustin had a question about his PS3, so he emailed Sony. Now he's starting to suspect that they don't actually read the emails people send...  More Â»

This is Round 34 in our Worst Company in America contest, Sony vs Ticketmaster.

Certain electronics retailers such as Apple and Sony offer engraving for laptops, cameras and MP3 players. It may seem like a nice service, but it really saves them lots of money. Why? Engraved products can't be returned just because you couldn't figure out how to use the product or because you realized that you spent too much on it and now have to eat peanut butter and corn tortilla sandwiches for a month to avoid defaulting on your student loan.   More Â»

I was wandering around Best Buy yesterday here in Missouri when we came across this. Essentially, the back of this "open box" tagged computer was completely broken off. I realize that this may indeed be the nature of "open box" product, but seriously... 1700 dollars for a computer with this kind of blatant damage?  More Â»

After Daniela's SONY laptop was stuck in a warranty repair purgatory for months and a SONY tech screamed at her over the phone accusing her of warranty fraud, her story appeared on The Consumerist. Now she happily writes:

Almost immediately after my article was posted on the consumerist, I received a friendly and extremely apologetic call from a Sony exec. Before even calling me, he had reviewed my case and agreed fully that they were in the wrong. He apologized and offered to have my notebook repaired immediately!

Best Buy is offering $50 gift cards to people who bought HD-DVD players before Feb 23. say CNN.

The retailer said it will identify customers through its Reward Zone program, performance service plans and through online purchases and will mail out the gift cards to those individuals by May 1.   More Â»

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UPDATE: We Post, SONY Replaces Long-Languishing Laptop  More Â»

XBOX HD DVD is dead on sale for $49. [Bloomberg]  More Â»

A Toshiba insider claims that the company will abandon its HD-DVD format, yielding the next-generation DVD format war to Sony's competing Blu-ray technology. So now that the war is over you should run out and buy a new Blu-ray player, right? Not so fast.  More Â»

"We've listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-ray products and movies with their purchases," Gary Severson, head of home entertainment for Wal-Mart's U.S. stores, said in a statement.  More Â»

Best Buy is going to recommend blu-ray players to its customers. [NYT]  More Â»

Another nail in the coffin of the format war: top DVD rental service Netflix has announced that they will be going Blu-Ray exclusive.   More Â»

I bought a Playstation 3 last November, wooed by the thought of 5 free Blu Ray movies. However, last night when I went to fill out the rebate form, I found my wife had thrown away the sales receipt! Doh! I purchased this from Shop Ko using a credit card, but Shop Ko has told me they cannot look up or reprint my receipt.   More Â»

You had an article shortly after the WB exclusivity announcement on the 4th of this month, right? Well, I think this could make for a great follow-up that gives your readers the opportunity to voice their opinion, and hopefully sway the minds of the studio executives who've acted prematurely and stuffed words in the mouths of consumers everywhere.   More Â»

The video game industry is on fire! Wooo! Sales are up! Times are good!

In December, Nintendo had its biggest month ever with the hot-selling game system. Holiday shoppers bought 1.4 million Wiis, according to sales data released Thursday by the NPD Group. The Wii's success helped drive the video game industry to a record-setting $17.9 billion in sales, about 43% higher than 2006's $12.5 billion, which was also a record.

Reid, the guy with the Playstation that Sony said was too dusty to repair, is getting his system replaced through his Visa card's extended warranty protection.  More Â»

I'm composing this email with rather mixed emotions. I am, on the one hand almost lightheaded with relief. I am, on the other hand so incredibly angry I'm almost sick. Let me explain.  More Â»

Warner Bros. rolled up its sleeves in the format war today and announced that it was discontinuing support for HD-DVD after May 2008.   More Â»

13-year-old Brandon Burns thought he'd received a Playstation 3 for Christmas. Sadly for Brandon, the box contained a local phone book and not a PS3. He wasn't upset, just amused. His reaction:  More Â»

Remember Sony's cringe-inducing copy protection scheme a couple of years ago, where they secretly installed rootkits on millions of customers' PCs and then pretended it was no big deal? ("Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" — Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG's President of Global Digital Business.) There's a new article (PDF) about to be published in the Berkely Technology Law Journal called "The Magnificence of the Disaster: Reconstructiong the Sony BMG Rootkit Incident." It's a very detailed and entertaining read that examines the conditions that led Sony BMG "toward a strategy that in retrospect appears obviously and fundamentally misguided."  More Â»

The WSJ Holiday Sales Blog says that sales of the PS3 are picking up while Nintendo struggles to meet the demand for the Wii. Sony's CEO claims that they've been selling 200,000 PS3 units a week in the U.S. since Black Friday. [WSJ Holiday Blog]  More Â»

Ars Technica says that Walmart has given an ultimatum to "some of the largest record labels, including Warner Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment, to provide more of their respective music catalogs in MP3 format (that is, without DRM) next year."  More Â»

State of the Console Wars: Wii is still winning, Microsoft is second, and Sony is complaining that they're not as far back as Microsoft says they are. [Seattle P-I]  More Â»

Around this time last year, computer manufactures were trying to convince people not to wait until Vista came out to buy a new computer. To that end Microsoft devised what was (and still is) considered to be one of the most confusing marketing campaigns ever.  More Â»

"While moving to our new house last week a friend who was helping us accidentally spilt beer on my son's DS lite and it stopped working. I knew that his DS was still under warranty, but I also knew that I would not cover physical damage caused by neglect. After checking Nintendo's website, and confirming that spilling liquid on it would not be covered and that I would have to pay for the repair."   More Â»

PREVIOUSLY: Is This Playstation 3 Too Dusty To Be Repaired Under Warranty?  More Â»

Carey will be on the FOX Business Network, discussing our reader's fabled dusty PS3, this Friday morning at 7:45 AM.  More Â»

FOX Business Network picks up our Sony PS3 "excessive dust voids your warranty" story [FOX Business Network]  More Â»

A Sony CSR admitted to reader Ive that dust should not void a Playstation 3's warranty. Transcript and audio, after the jump.  More Â»

Keep your camera safe and snug in Sony's stylish new TWA/T. The soft leather carrying case is available in brown, black, and red - but not pink. Sony, please hire someone to manage your obscure naming conventions.  More Â»

"I just got off the phone With PS3 customer support who kindly informed me that my PS3 is "too dusty" to be replaced under warranty. But won't provide pictures unless they are subpoenaed."  More Â»

There's still no decisive victory in the high-def format wars, but here are the current standings: Sony's Blu-ray outsold HD-DVD in the U.S. by a 2-to-1 margin for the first 3 quarters of 2007, but analysts say the trend could reverse in these last few months due to high-profile titles (like "Transformers") being released in high-def exclusively on HD-DVD. The verdict? It's still either format's game. [Reuters]  More Â»

Grant is having a problem renting blu-ray discs from Netflix.   More Â»

Remember when DVD-type players didn't require "firmware updates?" Ahh, those halcyon days of um, last year...  More Â»

They say there's no new ideas in advertising, but after seeing the latest ripoff routine, where Sony Bravia totally jacked an independent artist team's work for their new ad, we disagree. They do have one idea. It's that it's totally okay to blatantly steal other's work, repackage it, and get away with it. But we've got to wonder, what are these firms thinking? If consumers discover the cut and paste job, isn't that a pretty negative backwash on the client they're supposed to be promoting? Or do they figure, hey, it's just a few thousand internet geeks and artists, they don't have any money anyways, who cares, let's snort some more coke off the copying machine glass?  More Â»

More silliness from the RIAA, according to Ars Technica. Jennifer Pariser, the head of litigation for Sony BMG, was called to testify in the case of Capitol Records, et al v. Jammie Thomas.   More Â»

Consumers don't like DRM and neither do we, but quite honestly—we thought no one cared what we liked and disliked.  More Â»

Starting next month, you can get your fill of ringles in major stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy. Brainstormed by Sony, the ringle is a sort of souped-up CD single—"one hit and maybe one remix and an older track—and one ringtone, on a CD with a slip-sleeve cover." Sony BMG will release 50 titles in October and November, while Universal will release 10 to 20. Each ringle will cost between $5.98 and $6.98. (Wanna bet which price point the labels will go for?)  More Â»

Those of you with PS3s notwithstanding, there has never been a better time to stay out of the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray.  More Â»

My colleague came to work waving around a new pair of Sony headphone's he'd bought on the way over, still new in the blister plastic packaging. He was excited because he got such a good deal on them, and tried cutting through the package with a pair of heavy duty scissors. The plastic was unusually strong and was resisting even our most well made scissors (we work in a printing facility, and have lots of types of scissors, all high quality). He switched to the x-acto knife after the scissors were unable to pierce the thick bonded plastic.   More Â»

David brought two laptops to Best Buy for repair; neither was ever seen or heard from again. Best Buy sent David's first laptop, a Sony Vaio, back to Sony for repairs. Unable to find the laptop after one month, Best Buy declared it irretrievably lost and offered David an upgraded Vaio for $200. One year later, the second laptop broke. Like the first, it disappeared forever after being dispatched to Sony. David writes:

I just recently started reading The Consumerist, and Lorraine's nightmare with her laptop repair reminded me of my own nightmare of Best Buy completely losing two laptops I sent in for repair, leaving me without any laptop for a total of 4 months, as well as all the data I lost on the first laptop. It all started a little over 3 years ago when a relative bought me a top-of-the-line Sony Vaio at a Best Buy.  More Â»

Coca-Cola has come out on top of the "Best Brands" Harris Poll for the first time ever. Sony, the leader for the past 7 years slipped to number 2.   More Â»

Poor Sony. Despite telling Reuters on July 6 that they had no plans for a price cut, they've cut the price of the Playstation 3 by $100.   More Â»

Blockbuster has announced its decision to exclusively rent Sony Blu-Ray DVDs, much to the dismay of HD DVD owners. According to the AP, the decision comes following a test of both formats at 250 stores. Blockbuster found that consumers were choosing Blu-ray over 70% of the time.   More Â»

The EFF is encouraging consumers to write their Senators about a new "spyware" bill that has been, in their words, "massaged by by lobbyists for the software and adware industries." Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing says the bill

"makes it impossible for consumer rights groups to sue DRM companies for putting spyware in their DRM (like Sony did last year, with its rootkit DRM). The irony is that spyware is already illegal, so all that this act does is immunize big media companies that sneak spyware onto your computer."

Here's the best idea ever: Get a slaughtered goat and use it as a prop at a release party for God of War II. Then, take pictures of the bloody carcass and put them in Official PlayStation Magazine. Oh wait, no. That's not actually a very good idea at all.  More Â»

It seems Acer fell asleep during the whole Sony battery recall thing and is just recalling them now. Well, I do have a couple of affected Acer laptops, and so far the process is painful. The operators on the other end answer the phone in a language unknown to me (though one time I think I heard the operator say South Africa?) though they promptly switched to very understandable English after I spoke.  More Â»

Sony's latest bright idea was to issue DVDs with DRM that made them unplayable in their own DVD players. Yes, they're just that committed to you, their valuable customers. Anyhow, they've decided to recall the discs. From IMDb:

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has discovered the source of a problem in their recent DVD releases that prevented them from being played on some players, including some manufactured by the consumer electronics division of Sony itself. The company said the problem was caused by an update of its copy-protection system, which it continually updates in order to derail potential hackers. Among the DVD movies affected were the new James Bond film Casino Royale, The Pursuit of Happyness and Stranger Than Fiction. Sony said that anyone who had purchased one of the discs and has experienced problems playing it may receive a replacement disk free of charge by phoning 800-860-2878.

Format wars are bad for consumers, but it looks like they're not too fun for the industry either. According to recent sales figures from Nielsen VideoScan, the number 10 best selling high-def disc "Babel" sold a whopping 880 copies. That's fewer people than attended our high school.  More Â»

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.  More Â»

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.  More Â»

On the day after Thanksgiving, Mr. Sollitto, the chairman and chief executive of Syntax-Brillian, had 32-inch Olevia liquid-crystal display TV sets selling at Circuit City for $475, almost half its regular price.  More Â»

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U.S. regulators said Tuesday Sony BMG Music Entertainment agreed to reimburse consumers up to $150 for damage to their computers for selling CDs with hidden anti-piracy software.  More Â»

The lucky golden shit awards for the best flog of 2006 have arrived!  More Â»

Want to bypass Sony Ericsson grunt level support? An anonymous SE rep reached out to us and provided the following:  More Â»

Based on reader votes, we anoint Sony's Alliwantforxmasisapsp as the best flog of 2006.  More Â»

UPDATE: Results are in!  More Â»

Matsushita announced plans to mass-produce a laptop battery that won't explode.  More Â»

Since nobody should be allowed to move on from their mistakes, we're holding a knife fight to see who had the "best" flog of 2006. We are pleased to announce... The Floggies.  More Â»

We reuploaded the fake Sony PSP blog for your reference purpose pleasure. The new address is alliwantforxmasisapspflog.com.  More Â»

Sony stripped the PSP flog from the internet this afternoon.   More Â»

Greg Meyerkord, the man whose name appears on the PSP flog domain registration, has put up a website to debunk all the haters.  More Â»

Reader Nolen decided to harass/contact Greg Meyerkord , the guy whose name appears on the PSP flog domain registration....  More Â»

UPDATE: The 807 comments that were on the Dancing Petey video, after the jump.  More Â»

We found the Myspace profiles for most of the the marketing douchebags who appear on the PSP flog, pretending that they are kids who want their parents to buy them a PSP for Christmas.  More Â»

We're a day late and a dollar short to this story, but the forces of the internet outed a marketing company working for Sony for creating fake PSP blog.  More Â»

Now that your phone is your own, you can unlock it. Depending on the type of phone it is, unlocking can be as simple as getting a code from your phone company, or as difficult as "drilling into a shield over the main circuit board to tap into the right contacts and kicking the phone into a special diagnostic mode to get at the unlocking code." Uh, yeah. Thankfully there are smart people at PC Magazine who can give us the lowdown on the formerly shady practice of unlocking a cell phone.Yay!  More Â»

The recent Copyright Office ruling on unlocking GSM phones puts some much-needed power back in the hands of you, the wireless consumer. This means you can now bring your Cingular phone over to T-Mobile, or vice-versa. You also have the right to switch between prepaid and postpaid service on the same phone. And when you travel abroad, you can pop an international SIM card into your phone for much lower rates.

Finally, a spaghetti western that doesn't end in a flurry of bullets. — BEN POPKEN  More Â»